Islamabad Policy Institute (IPI) has recently published a report titled “Rushed Transition to Euro-V Standard Fuels: Need for A Public Debate” which has called for the government to reconsider its timeline for the implementation of Euro-V fuel standards across the country.
Dr. Ilyas Fazil, former Member Oil in Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and CEO of the Oil Companies Advisory Council, has authored the report.
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According to the report, the downstream sector of the petroleum industry is inadequately prepared for adopting the Euro-V standards directly from Euro-II under the current timeline laid down by the Federal government.
The report has questioned the readiness of local refineries for producing Euro V fuels, limitations of the existing retail network and upcountry storages, improperly defined Euro-V specifications, inadequate product testing capacity of the relevant institutions, and the presence of Euro-V compliant vehicles in the country.
It has warned that a hastened shift to Euro-V without addressing the highlighted shortcomings would adversely impact the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Not just this, the report has signaled that the national exchequer will incur losses worth millions of dollars as it would aggravate the balance of payment deficit.
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Upgrading the refineries and addressing all the stated issues could take 3 years, according to the report.
Therefore, the Federal government should reconsider its ambitious timeline for implementing the Euro-V fuel standard all over Pakistan.
In June, the Federal government had imposed a ban, which came into effect on 1 August, on gasoline imports of less than Euro-V standard. The government had directed that all gasoline imports must be in line with Euro-V specifications from 1 September.
Gas oil imports of less than the Euro-V standard will be banned from 1 January 2021 after the expiration of the agreement with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for the import of Euro IV standard oil.
Ohh, when they lose the profit, now they start barking for delay, why don’t they start upgrading their refineries, so they can catchup with time. of Govt. decided to delay, they will come up with new excuses.